Jealousy
by MySilentLullaby
Summary: Core!Wheatley x Chell - Oneshot - Wheatley is jealous of Chell's companion cube. An argument arises between them and Wheatley believes their friendship will never be the same again.


**Portal 2: Jealousy**

Wheatley never understood why humans needed so much sleep. Whenever Wheatley needed to recharge, he'd just shut himself down for a few hours and reserve energy. But humans were different. Humans needed at least 8 hours of sleep each day.

Wheatley's brilliant blue optic stayed focused on the sleeping form of the woman lying in the bed across the room. She wasn't terribly ugly like the others had been, but she wasn't very attractive either, or so he tried to convince himself. Actually, she was a lot better than most humans. Wheatley liked her, and although he'd been bossy and monstrous and acted quite selfish, she had forgiven him; taking him in her arms and welcoming him into her home.

Optic shifting, he took in every detail as she slept. Her long, dark hair resting in thick wisps around her soft, smooth face. Her skin was a light brownish gold colour. Wheatley liked that about her. Wheatley liked a lot about her. But he'd never go so far as to admit he thought she was attractive. Robots aren't meant to have feelings towards humans!

But this was boring, Wheatley sat on the opposite side of the room and watched her sleep every night. While that stupid companion cube got to sit next to her sleeping form all night. It's glowing pink hearts almost mocking him as her arms wrapped around it in a tight embrace. A smile spreading across her sleeping face. It made Wheatley's circuits spark up in anger. _How could she forgive me, then waste her time cuddling with the likes of some geometric blockhead?_

But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. She didn't like to speak at all. The cube didn't speak at all. She liked useful things, the cube could be used in many different ways. And what could poor Wheatley do? Nothing. Nothing but be an annoying chatterbox and make really bad decisions. How he hated the cube!

One day, after she'd come home exhausted from what she had referred to as "work", Wheatley asked her what she saw in the cube. "Can I ask you a serious question? Now, don't get offended love, I just want to know why you spend so much time with that cube thing! It doesn't even talk!"

Of course, he got no reply. She never spoke to him. Or anyone for that matter. But he had read stuff she had written as a way to communicate. She just shook her head softly and went into another room.

The metal shutters on Wheatley's optic shut for a few minutes. He couldn't stand to see that damn cube anymore. Something about it made him so... so... No. It wasn't the cube that made him feel this way. By itself, he didn't care much for it, but when she was around...

Wheatley could feel the motors and gears inside him turning faster as his outer hull heated up. He narrowed his optic, _What is this feeling? I've never felt so... angry at her before. At least not in this way._

Deciding to ignore the soft sigh of contempt that had just left the former test subjects lips, Wheatley closed his shutters and shut himself down. He didn't feel like watching them anymore.

Wheatley felt a warm hand on his hull. His optic shutters flew open and he looked around frantically before recognizing Chell. The woman's beautiful skin tone and brilliant grey eyes reflected the morning light just in a way that made her look almost like she'd come down from heaven.

"Ahh! You're up! I.. I must have felt my battery power running low last night. I uh, I guess you're going off to work then?" Wheatley's voice broke through the eerie silence between them.

She nodded, before giving him a quick pat on the top of his spherical body. His optic swung upwards to stare at her hand as she did so and if he had a face, he swore he would be smiling from ear to ear.

She left rather quickly after that and Wheatley was left alone with that damn cube. He could feel his circuits and machinery whir speedily as he felt a surge of anger run through him. _What is this feeling? It's stronger than hatred, and more petty than anger... What is it about the cube that makes me so ticked off?_

Wheatley sat in his spot in the bedroom, alone with the cube. He stayed silent, something very, very rare from him. Hours went by, and Wheatley still sat in silence. If he were human, he knew he'd be doing what humans call "crying" where water would leak out of their eyes. He knew that was a rather selfish thing to do, but he just didn't understand why Chell would forgive him, and then ignore him like this.

It was nearly six thirty when Chell returned, she looked exhausted. Her hair was a mess, the bags under her eyes had somehow gotten bigger and darker, and her lips - which had sported a smile that morning - was now set in a deep frown. Wheatley hated seeing her like this, and knew very well it was a bad idea to confront her right now, but being the Intelligence Dampening sphere, he was programed to make the worst decisions.

"Where have you been? You're usually home by four!" Wheatley asked accusingly. The tone of his voice scared him, he hadn't sounded that angry since his take over of Aperture...

Chell spun around and glared at the personality core. Her eyes were hard with a mixture of anger and fear. Wheatley's optic narrowed and he felt his entire Sphere shake with fear. "I... I'm sorry! I meant... Ch-Chell..." He began.

The dark-haired woman turned and stormed out of the room. Wheatley called after her but she didn't return. Silence filled the air, the only noise was the sound of Wheatley's machinery slowing down.

Wheatley's optic slowly moved around the room and landed on the cube. All this was the cube's fault. Wheatley felt the strange anger start to well up inside him again, but stopped himself. Suddenly realizing what was going on; he was jealous. Wheatley had been feeling jealous of the cube. His optic widened.

Wheatley watched as Chell slept alone that night. The cube sat on the floor next to the bed. Chell did not smile happily in her sleep like she usually did, instead a deep set scowl made her look un-peaceful; like she was having a never ending nightmare.

Wheatley couldn't explain why he felt so terrible. This was all his fault; if he didn't get so jealous of that damn cube, if he hadn't overreacted when Chell got home late, if he hadn't been such a monstrous friend, Chell would be happily sleeping right now.

If he had lungs, Wheatley would have sighed. Staring at his mute friend, he started to whisper, "Chell, I know you're sleeping and you probably can't hear me. That's okay, I plan on telling this to you when you wake up anyways. But I just want to get it off my chest... well if I had a chest that is, but that's not the point. The point is..."

But before he could finish, he noticed she had sat up and was listening to him talk. "Oh! You're awake! Well, I guess that's even better then. Now I won't have to repeat myself... Well, er, I guess I should start off with I'm sorry. I was rather... irrational today and I-"

Wheatley was cut off when he felt himself being picked up and carried over to the bed. "Wh-what are you doing, love?"

Chell just smiled, staying silent as she gently placed him where the cube usually sat in the bed. She climbed in after him and snuggled back into the soft pillows, wrapping her arms around Wheatley like she would the cube. If he was human, he was sure his face would turn bright red. "Chell? Wha-"

"Shhhhhh!" She made the noise and put a finger to her lips. Wheatley knew what that meant, she'd done that action many times before. It meant to stay quiet. Wheatley obeyed, he didn't want to anger her even more.

An hour or two passed and Wheatley watched as her smile returned, he felt the gears and machinery inside him whirr with excitement; he was in bed with a happy Chell who had her arms wrapped lovingly around him. If he was human, he'd have smiled from ear to ear.

Wheatley sat, enjoying the silence for a few minutes when Chell began to stir in her sleep. Not knowing what to do, Wheatley stayed silent as she nuzzled her face into his outer hull. Wheatley had no idea what the gesture meant, but if it made her happy, then he was okay with it.

"I... I love you, Chell," Wheatley whispered, relieved to finally confess his feelings. He shut the shutters to his optic and returned to the silence.

Out of nowhere, a soft, raspy voice broke through the silence, "I love you too, Wheatley."

It took him a moment, but Wheatley realized it was Chell's voice. Shutters opening and optic widening, he looked up at the woman to see her eyes were still closed and she looked like she was still fast asleep. Suddenly her lips curled into a weird butterfly-like shape and she pressed them against the top of his hull. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but it made him feel special. But it didn't matter, he knew now that Chell felt the same way about him as she did her cube. Maybe she even liked him a little more. For once in his little mechanical life, he didn't feel jealous anymore.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Hi everyone! This is a quick oneshot I wrote over the span of a few days. I wanted to take a break from writing Troubled Minds to do something different. This hasn't been edited, so if you see mistakes, I'm really sorry. Thanks for reading and please tell me what you think!


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